Signals
by legaldramafan
Summary: Reid isn't sure if Morgan's sending him "signals" or if he's reading them right. JJ to the rescue! Morgan/Reid SLASH. In my mind this takes place in an earlier season, but after the addition of Prentiss to the team.


**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Morgan 'casually' perched himself on the edge of Reid's desk. "Any plans for tonight?"

Reid groaned internally. "If I say no are you going to make fun of me?"

"No, I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab a drink with me."

"Oh," was the one syllable reply.

"Yeah . . . so . . . do you have plans?"

"Oh, uh, no."

"So do you want to?"

"Want to what?"

"Grab a drink with me?" Morgan asked desperately as he wondered if Reid was avoiding him or if he really was this clueless.

"Oh, uh, a drink sounds okay I guess."

"Okay then," Morgan replied, smiling.

"Are, uh, any of the others, uh, coming?"

Morgan's face fell. "No . . . I was thinking just the two of us, but if you're not comfortable with that then we could invite the others . . ."

"No, no, no! I was, um, just wondering."

The smile returned to Morgan's face and he ruffled the other agent's hair. "Are you about ready to head out then?"

"Yeah," Reid replied, standing. "I'm assuming you are as well, or at least you ought to be based upon the number of your files that somehow found their way to _my_ inbox."

"You don't really mind when I do that, do you?"

"I plead the fifth."

"Mmhmm."

"So, uh, where are we going for this drink?" Reid inquired as he climbed into the passenger seat of Morgan's SUV.

"Well, I know you're not a huge fan of the usual dance clubs we go to with the team so I thought we'd try something a little different. It's a jazz club called Brass. It's a great little club but not well known."

"Sounds good," said Reid with a smile.

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"Can we get a booth please?"

_That's strange,_ thought Reid about Morgan's request. _We normally get a table or even just sit at the bar. Why do we need a booth?_ While the hostess directed them to their booth, Reid observed the occupants of the other booths. Based on gender, physical proximity and body language he determined that all of the other booths were occupied by couples, or at least people with romantic interest in one another.

Reid was nervous all night for some reason unknown to him. He and Morgan were sitting on the same side of the booth so that they could both see the stage, or at least that was how the other man explained it to him. Morgan's arm was resting behind him on the back of the bench. Reid wasn't anxious about the invasion of his personal space; in fact, he felt an excited, giddy type of nervousness. The feeling was foreign to him.

"You doin' okay pretty boy? If you don't like it here, we can leave."

"No, I like it," he replied as he fiddled with the napkin under his glass.

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A few hours later they were once again walking to Morgan's vehicle.

"Thank you, again, you really didn't have to pay my tab," Reid informed him.

"Would you stop? I invited you out so I picked up the tab; just let it be."

Reid nodded, smiling and blushing.

When they pulled up to Reid's apartment building he thanked Morgan again and gave him a little wave before entering the building. Morgan rested his head against the steering wheel. _I'm pretty sure that he had no idea whatsoever that that was supposed to be a date. Crap._

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_One Week Later_

"Hey man," Morgan said as he handed Reid a cup of coffee from a nearby coffeehouse and perched himself on the corner of the other man's desk.

"Hey Morgan," he replied, smiling appreciatively at the coffee. "What's up?"

"Well, I heard that there's a new exhibit opening at the Smithsonian in a few days and I was thinking that if we don't have a case, maybe we could go."

"Really?" Reid was surprised; while he knew Morgan was intelligent he didn't believe an afternoon at the Smithsonian was of any interest to him.

"Of course. I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise."

"Oh, well, I, uh, I have heard about the new exhibit, and I, um, am interesting in going to see it, so yes, if we don't have a case, we could, um, go together if, uh, you want." Reid couldn't make eye contact with the other man because his face was flaming an obscene shade of red because of the doting attention he was receiving from Morgan.

"Sounds good then; I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too, me too . . . oh, and, um, Morgan?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Thanks for the coffee." Morgan nodded before returning to his office.

_ my page breaks never work _

Reid was distracted the rest of the afternoon. He busied himself with analyzing his feelings; he had felt giddy when Morgan was asking him about going to the Smithsonian. He had a strong suspicion about what the feeling was, but he needed confirmation, so he slipped into JJ's office that afternoon.

"Hey Spence!" she said brightly, looking up from her own paperwork. "What's going on?" she asked, beckoning for him to take a seat.

"Well . . . um . . . the thing is . . . what do you think it means when one person feels an excited, giddy nervousness when he is around another person?" He rung his hands in his lap and bowed his head to hide his blush.

"It only happens with one person in particular?"

"Yes."

"Well, based just on that description, I'd say that person has a crush on the other person."

"And by crush you mean feelings of a non-platonic nature coupled with some degree of physical attraction."

"Well . . . yes."

"That's what I suspected . . . well, um, thank you for your input."

"Huh-uh. You are not leaving that chair until you tell me what this is about."

"Not yet JJ. It's . . . it's too soon."

She eyed him carefully. "Okay. I'll let it go for now, but don't think I'll forget." He nodded and then quickly escaped her office lest she change her mind again.

_ my page breaks never work _

Reid was glad he had read all about the exhibit in advance because he couldn't focus with Morgan next to him. The butterflies in his stomach were somehow doing somersaults and when their hands accidentally brushed he jumped three feet in the air. What he didn't know was that Morgan had purposefully brought about the contact.

"Sorry," Morgan mumbled, discouraged by the way that Reid jumped and pulled away as soon as the backs of their hands touched.

"No, I'm sorry. I, uh, I guess I must have had too much coffee today," Reid offered with a small, shy smile. Initially, he was afraid that he had accidentally touched Morgan and that the other man wouldn't appreciate their hands touching.

"Is that a fact?"

Reid nodded vigorously. Morgan gave him a small smirk of a smile back and they continued through the exhibit. The next time Morgan's hand brushed against Reid's the younger agent gave him a sideways glance but kept on talking, educating him on the exhibit.

_ my page breaks never work _

"So, um, th-th-thank you for asking me to see the exhibit with you, and um, for ah paying, again," Reid said softly.

Morgan chuckled. "You're welcome Pretty Boy." When they reached his vehicle he opened Reid's door for him and closed it behind him before walking around to the driver's side.

The younger man sat in the passenger seat twiddling his thumbs and biting his lip. The engine idled as Morgan observed him, debating in his mind what these behaviors meant.

"Something on your mind?"

"Oh, uh, yes, sorry . . . I um . . . well you probably just want to take me home . . . I mean it's still early enough for you to go to a club if you want . . . or, well, I was just thinking . . . I mean you probably don't want to, so um, yeah, just never mind."

Morgan's face was contorted in confusion. "Pretty Boy I have no idea what you're trying to say. The only part I understood was that you thought maybe I'd want to take you home and then go to a club but that's not what I want at all. Don't you get that I'm out with _you_ tonight? I'm spending as much of tonight as you'll let me with _you_. And when you're sick of me I'll take you home and then I'll go straight home – alone. I mean . . . give me a little credit would you?"

Reid wanted to ask what he meant. Was he on a date with Morgan? He couldn't ask because the older man was already upset with him and he didn't want to make him more upset. He just didn't understand. No one had ever wanted to date him before. He had no idea what dating was supposed to be like; if that's what this was. He took in his surroundings and realized they still hadn't left the parking lot. He carefully gave Morgan a sideways glance and saw him pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what to do. Before, when he got lost on a tangent, he had intended to ask Morgan if he wanted to grab something to eat. He didn't know if he should ask that or if he should just ask Morgan to take him home. The few minutes of silence felt like hours. Feeling defeated once again, the older man put the vehicle in gear and navigated his way to Reid's apartment building. The younger man didn't move.

"Is this not what you wanted Reid?" he inquired. The other could hear the frustration dripping off the words. Before he knew what was happening his younger counterpart was out of the vehicle, fleeing into his building.

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Morgan nearly jumped out his skin when twenty minutes later JJ, who had been called by an emotionally-wrought Spencer and had decided an in-person visit was in order, was tapping on his driver's side window.

"What the hell JJ?!"

"Sorry. I was just curious as to why you're sitting outside of Reid's apartment building on a Saturday night. I mean, he just called me . . ." As her speech slowed, Morgan could tell JJ was experiencing an epiphany. "_You're_ the guy?! No freakin' way!"

"What do you mean, I'm the guy?"

"Spence came to me a few days ago . . . was asking me about what it means when you feel giddy and nervous and excited all at once around one particular person. He wouldn't tell me who the guy was but here you sit and I know he was out with him tonight so yeah, you must be the guy."

"He's . . . he's interested in me? I was beginning to think I had misread the whole thing. If he wants to be with me he certainly has an interesting way of showing it."

JJ sighed. "Never tell him I told you everything I'm about to tell you. He'd kill me . . . Morgan, you realize that Spence is socially . . . awkward, to put it nicely, don't you? Couple that with the fact that he finished high school before he hit puberty, he had three Ph.D.s before he was twenty . . . well, he didn't have any normal social experiences. The only person he had consistent interaction with was a paranoid schizophrenic who refused to take her medication. He never dated in high school or college because he was completely the wrong age . . . he was literally jail bait almost the entire time he was at CalTech. He never socialized because he never wanted anyone to get close enough to him to realize that his mom should be in an institution and he should be in foster care. He's so, so smart and it makes it hard for him to talk to people. I know we never talk about it but Spence is aware of his autistic tendencies . . . painfully aware. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you here?"

Morgan was mute, still trying to process the onslaught of information JJ fed him.

"What I'm trying to say is that he's never been on a single date, let alone dated someone; he's never had a romantic relationship; he's never been kissed other than that Lila Archer nonsense, so of course he's never had sex. He has no idea what's going on Morgan. He doesn't understand your behavior, or his feelings, or how he's supposed to behave. And then you're just you and regardless of whether it's fair or true, your reputation precedes you . . . and I don't even know what he would think you would expect of him – true or not. Hell, I'm pretty sure he's convinced himself that he's ruined everything and you'll never want anything to do with him again. Now that I know it's you and seeing as I found you still sitting here, I can see that's not the case but . . . look, he's going to be wondering where I am . . . why don't you come up with me . . . I have a feeling you're the one he really needs to talk to anyhow. Just be quiet when I buzz him."

Morgan nodded and slid out of his vehicle. He pulled JJ to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now c'mon let's go rescue our genius from himself."

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"Spence," JJ called as she opened the apartment door, "you'll never guess what I found outside."

"JJ, what on Earth could you have found outside that would interest me . . ." his words trailed off as he saw Morgan standing in his apartment behind JJ. He glowered at JJ but as always he just looked like an angry kitten.

"Spence, I'll stay if you want me to, but I really think you'll benefit more from talking to Morgan. I think there are some things you two need to clear up. Call me later, okay?" she instructed as she gave him a quick hug and ruffled his hair. He nodded as she walked right back out the door. Morgan locked the door behind her. Reid was looking at his toe making zigzags on the carpet. The other man patiently waited and eventually the doctor broke his silence.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, yeah, actually."

Encouraged by the fact that Morgan was presently in his apartment he mustered his courage and stated, "I have a nice bottle of wine that Emily gave me . . ."

"Emily does have good taste in wine so yeah if you want to waste it on me."

Reid shook his head. "It wouldn't be wasting," he said softly.

Morgan smiled and felt his heart skip a beat. The other produced the wine and he opened it while Reid retrieved wine glasses from where he didn't know. He followed Reid to the living room.

"Pretty boy, there's something I think I need to clear up and I'm thinking that the best way to do that is to just put things bluntly. I want to date you. The jazz club, the museum this evening, that's what I was trying to do."

Reid's eyes were wide with surprise. "I would like that, really I would," he began, and Morgan could hear the hesitation, "but trust me Morgan, you don't want me. You're so social and you'll never be able to take me anywhere. You have so much experience and I . . . God, this embarrassing to say, but . . . I don't have any. None. Zero. Zilch. You'll get tired of me or bored with me, and then I'll end up broken-hearted and . . . and . . . I really do wish we could be together though," he finished softly.

"We can be! Why can't you see that? I like you just the way you are! I don't care if you'll never want to hit up the dance clubs. I understand being worried about having no experience, but can't you think of it as the opportunity to gain that experience instead? And I'll move at your pace; I'm the last person who would ever rush anyone, and you know why. And I know everyone talks, hell I talk a big game, and everyone thinks I'm some kind of Casanova or Don Juan or something, but it's not like that. I'm not like that. I've wanted this for a long time; I'm willing to wait and I'm not going to get bored. You aren't like anyone else I've ever been with . . . and I mean that in the sense that I want more from you, with you, than I ever have from anyone else. I searched all over for my other half and couldn't find them and then one day you just fell into my lap. You're brilliant Spencer, and yes you're pure and innocent but it makes your soul that much more beautiful, and you're so damn beautiful inside and out that it's heart-breaking, and I just wish you saw what I see because then you would never doubt whether you were good enough to be with me or whatever the problem is. Even though the fact that you don't see it is infuriating it also just makes you that much more lovable. You're so lovable Spencer."

Reid sat in silence, stunned by Morgan's declaration. _That does clear things up, I suppose_, he thought to himself. Without warning, he threw himself on Morgan, bringing their lips together. As soon as it happened it ended and he sat back on the couch hands covering his mouth. "I-I-I'm sorry! I've never done anything like that before . . . ever." He began to wring his hands in his lap.

Morgan slid across the couch and took Reid's hands in his own. The younger man looked up. "It's okay that you kissed me baby. It's more than okay. I want to kiss you . . . do a lot more than kiss you when you're ready. If you're agreeing to date me that means you can kiss me whenever you want."

Reid rolled his lips inward, thinking. Morgan brought a hand to the side of Reid's face and the doctor leaned into the touch. "You want to try again?" The other man nodded enthusiastically as Morgan brought their lips together. This kiss was longer, deeper. When they broke apart, panting, they were both confused as to how Reid had ended up in Morgan's lap – not that either minded. They continued kissing; Reid was a quick study, Morgan found, not that it was particularly surprising. At one point when they paused to breathe they both yawned and Morgan looked at his watch and saw that it was after 1:00 a.m. That meant they had been making out for . . . hours . . . _like_ _teenagers_, he mused. _Well, Reid never got to be a teenager, so that's alright._ When he stood to leave, Reid grabbed onto him. He saw him gnawing on his bottom lip. "What's going on in that big brain of yours Dr. Reid?"

Reid pulled his hand away and looked down at his lap. "Well . . . um . . . I was just . . ."

"Spencer, whatever it is you can tell me," Morgan informed him, his voice full of sincerity and not even the slightest bit of mocking.

"Well, I just didn't know . . . I mean . . . do we have to have sex before you'll spend the night?"

"You want me to stay?" Morgan asked softly, both happy and surprised.

"Well, um, if you want to . . . yes I would like that . . . but I'm not ready . . ."

"I'm sorry," Morgan began, holding up his hand, "I didn't answer your question because I was too excited that you wanted me to stay; the answer is no, we do not have to have sex before I'll spend the night. We will still cuddle right?"

Reid blushed and nodded.

"Alright then, I guess that's settled. Um, can you give me your keys and so I can run down and get my go bag and not have to have you waiting to buzz me back in?"

Reid moved to the kitchen and retrieved his keys from the hook on the wall, handing them to Morgan. He then proceeded to his bedroom where he quickly tidied up and began to undress. Shoes, vest, tie, belt, shirt, pants, socks – he undressed in the reverse order that he dressed each morning. He jumped in surprise when he turned and found Morgan watching him – he hadn't heard him come back into the apartment.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," he explained, causing Reid to blush. The younger man stared as Morgan divested his rock hard body of its clothes, all but salivating at the sight. "Now, normally, I sleep in the nude," he explained as they climbed into bed, "but I will save _that_ for until after we've had sex," he informed the genius with a lascivious grin.

Reid blushed furiously as he fumbled to find pajama pants.

"You can wear those if you'll be more comfortable that way, but you don't need them. I'll keep you plenty warm." Reid turned to look at Morgan and saw that the lascivious grin was gone, replaced by a look of sweet sincerity. The younger man nodded and slipped under the covers, slowly inching his way closer to his bedmate. The older man was impatient and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him to the center of the bed. Reid squealed and giggled, allowing the other to position him how he wanted and to intertwine their limbs.

"Mmm, you are warm," Reid murmured as Morgan wrapped around him and their fingers locked together, one of Morgan's legs resting between his as they spooned.


End file.
